Gift card and voucher scams: If anyone — a caller, a “family member” in a text, a supposed government official — asks you to pay using iTunes, Google Play, or other gift cards, it is a scam, every single time. No legitimate organisation asks for payment this way.
The AI voice-clone family emergency: As described above — a caller sounds exactly like a loved one, often with background noise or an excuse for sounding different, urgently needing money and asking you to keep it secret. This is also done via a WhatsApp message or text messages.
The one trick that stops all of it: Whatever the scam, whatever the story, the advice is the same: Never act in the moment. Always verify independently.
- If it’s a bank, hang up and call the number on the back of your card
- If it’s “the government,” hang up and call the department using the number from their official website
- If it’s a family member in trouble, hang up and call them back directly on their known number
— Yvonne Lee